Travelling Soon? Don’t Let the Hidden Charges Take the Best of Your Moments!

Picture this: Summer break is here and you are now planning to travel abroad with your children! The icing on the cake is that you have a credit card from, say, XYZ bank that gives you a handsome credit limit. So you end up booking the tickets to Paris.

At the airport, however, you realise that you even paid additional fees like checked baggage charges and fuel surcharge.

It then dwells upon you that you actually ended paying up more than you anticipated. As a result, your mood is all over the place on your trip to the magnificent city of Paris. In the morning, you wake up only to realise that it was just a nightmare.

Don’t let this nightmare come true!

Here is what you can do to avoid this scenario and skip past the hidden charges!

Know Your Additional Charges First!

If you are not aware of the hidden charges that you are incurring, you would not be able to understand where you need to save the money.

So here are some hidden charges that are surfacing now -

1) Fuel Surcharge -

This is what you are actually paying to the airline, fleet, or cab rental company for carrying you to your destination, a.k.a. fuel charge. This add-on cost is charged by airlines (in your case) along with the base airfare.

Here’s a Fact: This fee is determined by each airline globally and is based on the route an aircraft travels to. But this charge will not affect you if you pay using your debit card or cash. As a credit card user, especially as someone with an air mile reward credit card, the fuel surcharge will affect you.

2) Checked Baggage Fees -

Did you know that checked baggage fees are only a recent development and did not exist since starting? This charge is usually levied if you travel economically — it even depends on the region you are travelling to.

What’s more? Different airlines have different checked baggage fees. So it is in your best interest to do your homework well in advance.

3) Seat Selection Fees -

Who knew that selecting the seat of your choice also comes at a price? Well, it is nothing new and has been existing since 2008. Certain seats in the class of your service can be selected only after paying a certain amount. While this may sound arbitrary, this type of fee does exist.

Some Hacks that Can Save the Trip and Your Pocketful of Dirhams

If you have a flexible reward system on your Airline credit card, you can transfer the rewards to other airlines (after your recce) that charge lower fuel surcharges or use them to buy tickets from any airline through an online travel portal. Another thing that can be done is that you depart for your trip from a country that has a limit on these surcharges.

To avoid charges like checked baggage fee and seat selection fee, you can fly elite (as the checked baggage will be free) or you can pack light. Another good practice to avoid checked baggage fees is to opt for a credit card that has this specific reward option. Usually, most airline credit cards have this advantage called “free first checked bag for the cardholder” and, at times, even for your travelling companions.

Talking about ‘seat selection fees’, you can book the seat way ahead of time to escape any charges. Avoid booking seats when the trip is nearing.

Having said that, not all rewards flights are entirely free. Hidden charges will and do exist, surfacing on the fine print. Thus, before redeeming your travel points into tickets, make sure that you do your recce on airlines that charge low fees and use the above-mentioned hacks.

Bon Voyage!

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By: Tanvi Pathak